UofL Expert Says National Warning System Should Be Better

The Director of the University of Louisville’s Center for Hazards Research says the high death toll from last night’s tornadoes is unacceptable.

David Simpson says with modern technology and media, governments should be able to give people enough warning to reduce death tolls whenever possible.

“I think there will always be cases where the event causes fatalities, whether it’s an earthquake, hurricane, or tornadic activity” says Simpson, “the issue is that with tornadoes, there is the chance of having some warning time, where some of the other events do not.”

Simpson says everyone should have a weather alert radio, especially those without televisions. They’re relatively inexpensive, but he says it may be wise for governments to distribute them. Simpson would then further urge people to respect warning systems.

“People do need to take the warnings that come out as seriously, and not think that if they’ve survived it before that everything will be fine the next time.”

According to Simpson, modernized warning system resources are vastly improving, but still show signs of vulnerabilities especially with human error, as was the case with Louisville’s civil defense sirens during severe weather earlier this year.